The discredited claims in a video titled "Plandemic" that went viral this summer, thanks in part to conspiracy theorists, echoed falsehoods Koltai had seen earlier in the Facebook groups she follows. The hoaxes also have been propelled by groups opposed to lockdowns and mask wearing, and by proponents of Qanon, a fact-defying, pro-Trump conspiracy theory. "There's so much we don't know, so much uncertainty and uncertainty makes us all so prone to misinformation to try to quell that feeling," she said.įalsehoods have multiplied and can be found anywhere from neighborhood chats to groups for pet owners, because so many people have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. But the pandemic has created what she called "the perfect storm" for vaccine misinformation to hit the mainstream. Until recently, such claims circulated mostly in groups dedicated to vaccine scrutiny, alternative health and parenting. ![]() ![]() A researcher at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, she has studied the growing anti-vaccination movement on Facebook since 2015. Koltai is well versed in these kinds of conspiracy theories about vaccines. were talking about the virus back then, people opposed to vaccination were paying attention, Koltai said, because they have long worried that a new disease would trigger the creation of a vaccine that, in their view, could be "forced onto everyone." "They were posting stories from China like, 'Hey, here's this mysterious illness,' or 'Here's this something that seems to be spreading,'" she said. ![]() Instead, she read about it in anti-vaccination groups on Facebook. Kolina Koltai first heard about the coronavirus back in January, but not from newspapers or TV.
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